Body fat %

I recently purchased a fat scale and it tells me I'm at 19%.

I ride 8-12 hours a week, am in top 20 of most of my cat4 races. I'm 164 at 5'10. Shouldn't I be lower? Does this mean if I lose another 10-15 pounds of fat I could be pretty damn fast? What do I make of this number?

Yeah,
they don't tell you that they're horribly inaccurate before you buy one. There are several things you can do to 'change' your %. For example, if you take socks off immediately before using it; it will change the reading. The best measure of weight loss will always be pant size. You drop to a smaller pant size, that's no foolin'.

I ride 8-12 hours a week, am in top 20 of most of my cat4 races. I'm 164 at 5'10. Shouldn't I be lower? Does this mean if I lose another 10-15 pounds of fat I could be pretty damn fast? What do I make of this number?

signed,

Confused...

You might want to compare your scale reading to the one available here:

It uses the "Navy" method for estimating body fat using some simply body circumference measurements, and is considered reasonably accurate for most adults.

Also, does your scale have an "athlete" mode? Most of the higher-end Tanita body fat scales have this mode...it is for people like you who exercise regularly and have high muscularity and/or low body fat. The difference between "normal" mode and "athlete" can be a lot...I just took my readings on my Tanita - "normal" mode said 15.0%, while "athlete" mode said 5.8%. The website above shows me at 13.6%, which I think is about right.

As others have stated - don't worry about the actual number, it's not very accurate. Your scale can work for you, though. Be consistent in terms of when/how you weigh yourself, and see how the fat% changes. Also, don't do this every day. Check perhaps every week, or every 2 weeks.